Tag: Armistead Maupin

Lauren Morelli on setBelieve it or not, Lauren Morelli never had any ambitions as a writer. Growing up in Pittsburg, she practiced dance, with the hope of one day turning professional. She continued her training while studying at Marymount Manhattan College before an injury ended her career. She then discovered a gift for writing, beginning with a blog that caught the attention of Netflix executives working on a new dark comedy series: Orange is the New Black. Morelli eventually landed...

Alan Poul with Olympia DukakisThe seven-time Emmy nominee Alan Poul is a fearless producer. Having worked on low budget films like Candyman through the 1980s and early 90s, Poul took on a job that would earn him distinction in the annals of television: producer of the landmark, if controversial, miniseries Tales of the City in 1993. Since then, Poul has produced other acclaimed, groundbreaking shows such as My So-Called Life, Six Feet Under, The Newsroom and Westworld. Poul also returned to produce...

Armistead Maupin has reason to get excited. The new Netflix revival of his iconic Tales of the City series–the fourth television incarnation–debuts on Netflix Friday June 7, and boasts a cast more diverse than ever. It also has a gayer-than-ever story courtesy of an all-queer writing staff overseen by Orange is the New Black‘s Lauren Morelli. “I thought ‘Maybe we should have at least just one token straight person’, Maupin says of a writers’ room stocked with queer folk. “Then I remembered...

Armistead Maupin, 75 Author, activist Maupin grew up in North Carolina as the son of a powerful lawyer. After serving several tours in the Navy, including a stint in Vietnam, he landed in television journalism, working for future right-wing Senator Jessie Helms. Helms and Maupin would later become arch rivals during the AIDS crisis when Helms opposed HIV research and referred to gay men as “morally sick wretches.” “I’ve changed and he hasn’t,” Maupin deadpanned years later. Maupin came out in 1974. Around the...